Tombola powers on in bingo

Tombola powers on in bingo

Online bingo operator Tombola’s recent results show revenues managed to keep pace with the marketing expenditure ahead of the launch of the company’s new games offering last year.

Up until August last year, Tombola bucked the trend in online bingo by not offering side games on its site. The results from the year to April last year show the company keeping pace with the rest of the market despite its lack of a casino offer with revenue rising 19.4 percent to £59.5m.

This came despite what the company said was “significantly increased marketing spend” and the full-year effect from the imposition of the point of consumption regime in the UK.

Tombola Arcade was launched in August last year and features in-house games and slots. Uniquely, the company has imposed a maximum bet of £1 per games in line with its stated ethos of providing gaming options that are low-cost and fun.

Pre-tax profits at Tombola were flat at just under £12m.

Speaking to the company’s local paper, the Sunderland-based company said the revenue growth was in line with its five-year plan to double growth by 2020. As part of its plans it is developing a new £6m headquarters in Sunderland and has launched another recruitment drive.

Of interest in the results is what the company says about its international operations. Detail is scant – no revenue figures are disclosed for instance – but the company does say it is now turning small profits in Spain (£38,000) and Italy (£30,000). Cronin claimed the company had the number one bingo sites in both countries.

Totally Gaming says: Tombola’s success without a games offering (until August last year) is truly impressive. As the results statement makes clear, Tombola is focused on continual research and development of its product to ensure it is of the “highest quality” and the results would appear to reflect just that. How the company grows form here with its added in-house games platform will be fascinating.